On Friday 21st May 2021 at 16:00 UK time, we will have Dr Alexandra Smith from the University of Edinburgh present “Russian Perspectives on Advertising: Constructing Communities and Collective identities in Putin’s Russia”.
The paper will analyse the use of image, word and colour in several advertisements in order to show that multimodality plays a crucial role in the construction of collective identities in Putin’s Russia. The paper will use Gunther Kress’s formula suggesting that “word names and image shows, while colour frames and highlights” (Gunther Kress. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication, London: Routledge, 2009, p.1). It will also develop Kress’s understanding of semiotic resources as constantly transformed (2009). Such an approach presupposes active role of people as sign makers in shaping semiotic resources in accordance with their interests.
Abstract: In their book on Russian glamour and celebrities, Helena Goscilo and Vlad Strukov suggest that in Putin’s Russia glamour can be seen as “a new utopia” which came to replace “the Soviet myth about a radiant future” (Helena Goscilo, “Introduction”, in Helena Goscilo and Vlad Strukov, eds. Celebrity and Glamour in Contemporary Russia: Shocking Chic, London: Routledge: 2010 , pp.1-26, p.5). Given that Russian consumer culture is largely politicised in Putin’s Russia, it seems fruitful to analyse the role of Russian advertisements in the construction of an imagined community and a new grand narrative about strong Russia that invites consumers to participate in. According to Arnould and Price (Arnould, Eric J., Price, Linda L., “Authenticating Acts and Authoritative Performances: Questing for Self and Community,” in The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires, Ratneshwar, S., Mick, David Glen, Huffman, Cynthia, eds., London, UK: Routledge, 2000, 140–163), in the postmodern period the concept of the unified self becomes problematic. In this context, it is useful to observe the mechanisms of constructing the self in today’s Russia as a narrative or a series of narratives through “authoritative performances” (Arnould and Price 2000) as consumers who form communities. The advertisements of various goods such as chocolate and vodka, for example, use the images of old pre-Soviet Russia with the view to appeal to consumers’ nostalgia and/or patriotism. The politics of national identity is especially evident in packaging which, as Graham Roberts notes, has shifted its emphasis from the idea of packaging as marketing to the idea of “packaging as ideology” (Graham Roberts. Consumer Culture, Branding and Identity in the New Russia: From Five-year Plan to 4x4, London: Routledge, 2016, p.6).
The paper will analyse the use of image, word and colour in several advertisements in order to show that multimodality plays a crucial role in the construction of collective identities in Putin’s Russia. The paper will use Gunther Kress’s formula suggesting that “word names and image shows, while colour frames and highlights” (Gunther Kress. Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication, London: Routledge, 2009, p.1). It will also develop Kress’s understanding of semiotic resources as constantly transformed (2009). Such an approach presupposes active role of people as sign makers in shaping semiotic resources in accordance with their interests.
The Zoom link for the webinar will be shared on our mailinglist: you can subscribe or simply send an email to anna.wilson [at] area.ox.ac.uk asking for the link for this talk.
